[stuart howes]

hi all i have a prob
got up today to a very very bad frost
all the in side of van all solid with ice, pipes, pump the lot
the thing is how do i get power to the van when i have to go over the path with a lead (trip hazard) for a heater  or do any one use any other form of heating the van at night    i do put bubble rap and other stuff to try and keep it warm      i am pulling my hair out

[ronaldo]

Morning Stuart, you could try one of those small parrafin heaters that they use in greenhouses, they just keep the chill off if you no what i mean, i used to put one in my old van and it used to do the job.

[pjulk]

Hi Stuart

Im the same van system frozen.
Poles frozen, hoses all frozen and my trolley frozen.

My pole's, hose's and trolley could have been avoided if i bought them indoors last night but i didn't.

Got them all indoors now next to radiators defosting them and i have just put a small calor gas camping stove in the back of the van to try and defost that.

Im the same as you and can't run a lead to the van for a heater so tonight everything goes inside at least that way if the van system freezes i can still use my trolley.

Paul

[rugby]

same here,inside of van frozen solid,i took hose and poles indoors yesterday but untill i can get all the hoses,pumps etc  in the van de-frosted im stuck.ive had a small electric heater in there for over an hour now and every thing still frozen,because i have fairly large van,movano mwb the small electric heater doesnt seem to be doing a lot.

even if i get van up and running i dont realy fancy working in this sort of cold, roll on the summer

[pjulk]

Still no joy got my trolley defrosted and poles but hose still frozen and van system pumps and hoses still frozen after 1 1/2 hours with the calor gas heater in there.

Even though my trolley is no longer frozen i still can't use it as my submersible is frozen so i can't get my water out of the tank   

Paul

[aztec]

looks like we all got caught out this morning, my kit was frozen solid too, hair dryer for half an hour done the trick but tonight greenhouse heater in the van!!!

[rs_cleancare]

Yep I had the same prob hear in Cheltenham.
I had  a heater in the van all night set on frost control but still had problems with freezing pipes.

What i have used in the past in the garage to protect my carpet cleaning equipment is a parafin heater. Now use an electric heater

They predict up to 6 inches of snow for tommorow bit peed off as I have some good work arranged for then. O well guess i can have a lie in.
Rob.

[Nick_Thompson]

Yep, same as that.

Took all morning to defrost the van. I bought an electric van heater first thing this morning so I could start work and managed three hours before the water started to freeze on the windows that were in the shade.

The heater is on in the van as it is -1.5C already.

Nick

[paul wright]

if u cant put a small elec heater in van  because of were u hav to park   ,  then u gotter take poles and hoses in doors and drain u water tank,   u dont need a lot heat in van just enough to stop it going below freezing   i use a very small heater from bnqs  and never hav a prob, when u guys say u van has froze  it must blow all the connects etc on pipes and poles amd pumps?

[brett walker]

I leave my pole and trolley in the house overnight so i dont have a problem with them freezing up the only time they freeze up is if its really cold outside when im working.  I had this a few times last year thats when its time to go home  

But its better than lugging a freezing cold alliminum ladder about  

Brett.

[Nick_Thompson]

Paul

My equipment froze even though I had a small 60w tube heater on in the van all night. That is why I went out and bought a 3000w fan heater this morning.

Nick

[AuRavelling79]

Paul

My equipment froze even though I had a small 60w tube heater on in the van all night. That is why I went out and bought a 3000w fan heater this morning.

Nick

First time in two years that some of my system froze - despite 45w tube heater. (which did keep my pump above freezing)

Went and did a commercial, left van in sun while I spent an hour blading the insides - BOAB had ice cubes in it! Came out to pole the outsides but hoses were frozen still. So got everything out and laid it all out in the sun and went for a sausage sandwich in the canteen.

Finally did pole work from about 11 am but have now put old fan heater in van on low setting and tube heater by R/O (which is in an insulated box on the house wall.)

[Nick_Thompson]

Malc

I've done the same thing with my tube heater as my RO is in a box against the house wall.

Nick

[Paul Coleman]

I'm just glad that I've run out of work until next Monday/Tuesday.  I had to empty the van anyway last night as this morning was MOT time.  It failed but I knew it would anyway.  Nothing major.  Just the pump broken that's supposed to squirt the windscreen.  It's been like that for ages but the MOT is a great motivator for sorting that stuff out.
Anyway, I'll be thinking of you all tomorrow while I'm duvet diving   

[cybersye]

If you've gone down the diy van route, then its possible to build your system so everything is quick release even the wiring, mount pump, switch, varistream etc on a board with wingnuts to the ply panelling, connect hose from tank to pump to di and reel with hozelocks, with a bit of planning there is no need to get caught out by the cold. I have also read on here I think that some people pump a bit of antifreeze and water into the system the night before, you then just pump and flush it through in the morning with pure water, not that I've tried it.
Simon

[stuart howes]

hi all
what a day
got out about10 in the end did one job and buy the time i had stopped to get my money all my hose that was on the ground had frozen again,even tried to defrost it buy pouring my hot tea over it, no it did not work
so packed up and went to argos and got a 2000 watt fan heater
my first post this morning was how to get power to the van when i have to go over the path, so got my tools out and brain into gear
this is what i came up with        all it is   a pole bolted to a lump of wood this is what i have driven over  to hold in place so no one can nick it then i have run a power lead from the house to the top of the pole    about 12 feet then in to the van  to power the new fan heater  hope it works     what do you think?

[dai]

I got caught out too. I had taken everything inside except my hose reel which I thought I had emptied. It still had Ice in it though so lost an hour thawing it out.
I have left a greenhouse heater in the van tonight, hope it's ok in the morning.
If that snow comes, I'll have no chance up where I live. Dai

[Simply Clean Windows]

places like argos and halfords sell the 12volt converters so you could plug your fan heater in during the day when your driving about,during the night i would run it off a spare battery so you dont wake up with a flat van battery,dont know if this is any help to you.
Malcolm

[Nick_Thompson]

Stuart

Ingenious mate. Well done!

[jsm]

Was a cold one wasn't it - I took all the hoses and poles out the night before and rapped the tank and pump up all cosy - pump and tank frozen solid by the morning 

 wasted half a day waiting for it to thaw so went and done a bit of old'school window cleaning - up the ladder stuff with the tools ,
had a few customers say where's your pole etc , made a nice change , relised how unfit I have got since 3 years wtp ing - haha
got heater out there now for the morning  , dont know why really as if the snow comes I'm out playing in it .